Improvement in pianos



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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICEO RICHARD RAVEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN PIANOS.

To all whom it' may concern.-

Be it known that I, RICHARD RAVEN, of the city, county, and State ot' New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sounding-Boards otl Piano-Fortes; and I do hereby declare that the following' is a full,

clear, and exact description thereof', which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specication, in which- Figure lis a plan view with the cover or top of the case removed. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken in the plane of the line x 5v, Fig. l; and Fig. 3 a transverse vertical section taken in the plane ot' the line y y, Fig. l.

Similar letters ot" reference indicate like parts.

The object ot' this improvement is to increase the power and quantity ot' tone in the piano-forte by means of improved soundingboards, and also by means ot' additional soundin g-boards.

The invention consists in the introduction of a drum or sounding-chest composed of one or more additional and supplementary soundin g-boards with the necessary bars for strength, and also with posts, arches, or bridges to connect them. These additional and supplementary soumling-boards are affixed to the caseof the piano on solid bearings by means ot' linings, rabbets, or posts, with substantial connections to the case-bottom or rim ot' the piano. These additional sounding-boards and their connections are placed underneath such part or parts of the principal sounding or string-brid ge board, whether of square, grand, or upright piano-fortes, as may not be occupied or required for the keys or action of the instrument, and that end of the main sounding-board which is above these supplementary sounding-boards or sounding-chest is supported directly thereon by means of posts, arches, or bridges, either in straight, curved, or angular lines, at any suitable or required distance from the solid work of the case, such supports being made sufficiently strong to sustain the said principal sounding or stringbridge board.

rIhe invention is in this example shown applied to a square piano-forte; but it is applicable also to pianos of every other class and shape.

The letter E designates the principal sounding or string-bridge board, with its usual bridges D for supporting the strings of the instrument.

G2 designates the ordinary iron frame and bars in common use.

The principal sounding or stringbridge board E is not carried up to the ease at the right-hand end of the instrument, but terminates at the curved line O, which designates a bridge or line or' arched supports, which, resting on the drum or supplementary soundin g-board A, sustains said string-bridge board.

The supplementary sounding-board A extends trom the right-hand end ot the case at B to the block B', on which it is firmly and permanently tixed by any suitable means. The block B is placed as far lo the left as the keys and action will permit.

The board A extends clear across the width ot' the instrument', and is firmly and permanently secured to the case, as is shown at B, where a lining is used for this purpose.

G is the bridge or line otl arched supports or posts, which is elevated on the drum or sounding-chest A in order to sustain the end of the string-bridge board E. The bridge G is firmly secured to the drum A by screws or other suitable devices.

I have here shown only one board A as composing the additional sounding-board or drum; but there may be two or more, one

above the other, in a rising series.

My improvement, whether it consists of' a single board A or of several, constitutes a novel but efficient support for the free end of the striiig-bridge board, the string-bridge board being thereby sustained on a soundingdrum or vibratory chest, which causes the vibratory power of the piano to be greatly in-` creased without weakening the principal sounding or string-bridge board, and without detachin g or disconnecting it from the solid work ofthe case.

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- Introducing beneath the principal sounding-board of a piano a drum or soundingchest composed of one or more soundingboards, on which the principal sounding-board is supported, with their edges secured perinaynently to the case of the instrument, substantially as shown.

The above specication of my invention signed by me this 18th day of June, 1866.

Vitnesses: RICHARD RAVEN.

WM. F. MGNAMARA, ALBERT W. BROWN. 

